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Michael Roberts (poet)
Michael Roberts (6 December 1902 - 13 December 1948), , was an English poet, writer, literary critic, and broadcaster, who made his living as a teacher. Life He was born in Bournemouth, named William Edward Roberts, and educated at Bournemouth School. From 1920 to 1922 he studied at King's College London, taking a BSc in Chemistry. From 1922 to 1924 he read mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge; it was during this period of his life he acquired the name Michael (after Mikhail Lomonosov). In 1925 or 1926 he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain, but was expelled within a year. From 1925 to 1931 Roberts taught at the Royal Grammar School (RGS), Newcastle. He moved to London, teaching at Mercers' School from 1931 to 1934. He then returned to the RGS. Having published a first poetry collection in 1930, he started to edit anthologies, of which New Country (1933) became celebrated for the group of poets, including W.H. Auden, it featured. In 1934 he took part in a high-profile series of radio broadcasts, Whither Britain?, together with major figures such as Winston Churchill and Ernest Bevin. In 1935 he married Janet Adam Smith, critic and anthologist, and fellow mountaineer; they lived in Fern Avenue, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne where they were visited by W. H. Auden in September 1937. In 1939 they went to Penrith in Cumberland when the school was evacuated there. There they briefly shared a house with the poet Kathleen Raine. They had four children: Andrew Roberts, Professor of the History of Africa at the University of London, b. 1937; Henrietta Dombey, Professor of Literacy in Primary Education at the University of Brighton, b. 1939; Adam Roberts, Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, b. 1940; and John Roberts, writer on energy issues and Middle East politics, b. 1947. The Faber Book of Modern Verse (1936), which he edited, is the work for which Roberts is now best remembered.Michael Roberts, The Faber Book of Modern Verse, 4th revised edition, Faber and Faber, London, 2003. ISBN 978-0571180172. He followed it with poetry and prose writing, and a study of T.E. Hulme.Michael Roberts, T.E. Hulme, Carcanet Press, Manchester, 1982. ISBN 0-85635-411-2. In 1941-1945 he worked in London for the BBC European Service. From 1945 to 1948 he was Principal of the College of St Mark and St John in Chelsea, London, where one of his colleagues was the biologist Cyril Bibby. He died of leukaemia in 1948. Recognition His poetry was included in the Oxford Book of Modern Verse (1936). Michael and Janet Roberts had built up a large collection of books on mountaineering, which (along with the collection of the Oxford University Mountaineering Club) provided a basis for establishment in December 1992 of the Oxford Mountaineering Library. This is situated in the Radcliffe Science Library in Parks Road in Oxford, within the Radcliffe Science Library (Level 3). Publications Poetry * These Our Matins. London: Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1930. * Poems. London: Jonathan Cape, 1936. * Orion Marches. London: Faber, 1939. * Collected Poems (edited by Janet Louise Roberts). London: Faber, 1958. Non-fiction *''Newton and the Origin of Colours: A study of one of the earliest examples of scientific method'' (with Ebenezer Reese Thomas). London: George Bell, 1934. * Critique of Poetry. London: Jonathan Cape, 1934. * The Modern Mind. London: Faber, 1937. * T.E. Hulme. London: Faber, 1938. * The Recovery of the West. London: Faber, 1941. * The Estate of Man (edited by Janet B.A. Smith). London: Faber, 1951. Collected editions *''Selected Poems and Prose'' (edited by Frederick Grubb). Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1980. Edited *''New Signatures: Poems by several hands''. London: Hogarth Press, 1932. *''New Country: Prose and poetry by the authors of 'New Signatures'.'' London: Hogarth Press, 1933. *''Elizabethan Prose''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1933; Folcroft, PA: Folcroft Library Editions, 1977. *''The Faber Book of Modern Verse''. London: Faber, 1936. **''The Faber book of Modern Verse: A reissue of the original edition with an account of its making'' (essay by Janet Adam Smith). London: Faber, 1982. *''The Faber Book of Comic Verse''. London: Faber, 1942. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Michael Roberts 1902-1948, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 25, 2014. See also * List of British poets Poets in New Signatures (1932) W.H. Auden, Julian Bell, C. Day Lewis, Richard Eberhart, William Empson, John Lehmann, William Plomer, Stephen Spender, A.S.J. Tessimond Poets in New Country (1933) W.H. Auden, Richard Goodman, C. Day Lewis, John Lehmann, Charles Madge, Michael Roberts, Stephen Spender, A.S.J. Tessimond, Rex Warner References * Michael H. Whitworth, Physics and the Literary Community, 1905-1939, unpublished Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1994. Contains checklist of Roberts's contributions to periodicals, includes items not listed in Grubb's bibliography. * Samuel Hines, entry on Michael Roberts in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition October 2009. * Jason Harding, The Criterion: Cultural Politics and Periodical Networks in Inter-war Britain, Oxford University Press, 2002. (Chapter 8, pp.159-174, 'Michael Roberts and Janet Adam Smith: New Signatures'.) ISBN 978-0-19-924717-2. * Nicolas Barker, obituary: "Janet Adam Smith: A Woman of Substance in Literature and Mountaineering", The Guardian, London, 14 September 1999.http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/1999/sep/14/guardianobituaries2 * Leonard Miall, "Obituary: Janet Adam Smith", The Independent, London, 13 September 1999.http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-janet-adam-smith-1118813.html Notes External links ;Poems *"Perfect Imperfection: The poetry of Michael Roberts" (2 poems: "On Reading Some Neglected Poets," "Poem for Elsa") *Michael Roberts 1902-1948 at the Poetry Foundation ;About *Michael (William Edward) Roberts (1902-1948) at Myers Literary Guide. Category:1902 births Category:1948 deaths Category:English poets Category:Alumni of King's College London Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:People from Bournemouth Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Poetry anthologists